Premier League: 10 talking points from the weekend action

http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2015/jan/19/premier-league-talking-points-weekend

Version 0 of 1.

1) Need for strikers is clear at City

With Manchester City failing to score at home for the first time since August during the 2-0 defeat by Arsenal, the signing of Wilfried Bony begins to look even more to the point. The frustration for Manuel Pellegrini must be that while Bony is perhaps Mr Right, he isn’t also Mr Right Now. City created enough chances in their best spell just after half-time at the Etihad to have equalised. Undeservedly perhaps: but this is so often what champion teams do. In the end there was a slight but significant lack of the kind of cutting edge that might have defibrillated a sluggish performance. Not only were City weakened by the absence of Yaya Touré, Sergio Agüero was making a first start after injury. It is an anomaly that Agüero has just a single Premier League goal at the Etihad in the last three months: a measure of his struggles with injury and also the intrusion of other competitions (he does have the small matter of a hat-trick against Bayern Munich in that time). But the fact is City do need another striker to share the burden – and also to allow them to play another way.

Signing goalscorers is far from a precise science. Since the summer of 2007, City have spent £230m on centre-forwards in the shape of Bony, Alvaro Negredo, Agüero, Mario Balotelli, Edin Dzeko, Roque Santa Cruz, Carlos Tevez, Emmanuel Adebayor, Jo and Benjani. Dzeko has been a good servant and Tevez had his moments, but looking at that lineup it is clear how unusually central Agüero’s incision has been to the trophy haul. On Sunday, as City attempted to dance through Arsenal’s tight defensive line it was tempting to wonder how Bony might have fared alongside him. Like Agüero, the Ivorian is a finisher whose chief superpower is finding space through intelligent movement. If he isn’t quite as sharp, he does have a little more in the way of concussive power. City head to the Emirates now for a warm-weather training session on home-from-home territory. They have the depth and resilience to chase down Chelsea once again. But after a defeat that suggested not just that Fernando-Fernandinho is too lateral a partnership against the better teams, but also that City’s bad luck with striking injuries may have caught up with them. Bony looks less like back-up and more like much needed reinforcement. Barney Ronay

• Match report: Manchester City 0-2 Arsenal• Pellegrini: City can’t lose to Chelsea after Arsenal defeat• Jamie Jackson: five talking points from the Etihad Stadium • Coquelin’s masterclass: tactical triumph or just lucky?• Pictures: the best images from Arsenal’s win in Manchester

2) Will Mourinho’s Chelsea be considered one of the greats?

José Mourinho is setting the highest standard by saying his Chelsea team will only attain greatness by winning the European Cup, and that they will be forgotten in 20 years time if they don’t, but is he right? His test of time and definition of greatness would rule out many teams widely deemed to have been “great.” Do we have to discount Bill Nicholson’s Double-winning Tottenham? Or Don Revie’s Leeds? How about Arsène Wenger’s “Invincibles” at Arsenal? Up on Merseyside Evertonians would argue for the inclusion of Harry Catterick’s “School of Science” and Howard Kendall’s team of the mid-1980s. And what about Liverpool under Bill Shankly and Kenny Dalglish? Great or just very, very good? Food for thought indeed. Joe Lovejoy

• Match report: Swansea 0-5 Chelsea• Mourinho: referees should be able to work with more freedom• The Dozen: the weekend’s best Premier League images

3) Austin needs help fast

The Premier League has become accustomed to seeing David de Gea pull off stunning saves, and there were a couple of peaches to tip away forceful efforts from Charlie Austin which were essential to the end result. QPR’s reliance on Austin to be their goal threat has inspired the best out of him, but leaves them toothless on a day when it doesn’t happen for their No9. While Bobby Zamora battles manfully to link play and push moves forward, Austin’s strike partner has managed only one goal this season.

Eduardo Vargas, who looks a little lost shunted out to the right of midfield, has also only contributed one. Leroy Fer is positively prolific as an Austin-helper with three. Adel Taarabt, such a frustrating talent, came on as a last throw of the dice against Manchester United but he hasn’t scored a Premier League goal since April 2013. Harry Redknapp is desperate to engineer a loan signing to give QPR some more options. “We need a striker,” he said solemnly. “I have got two strikers – Bobby and Charlie. Bobby can’t last 90 minutes but he’s fantastic. Without him none of us would probably be here now. What he did last year for the club was incredible and he is a legend here for the rest of his life. But I need another front man.” QPR’s survival even with Austin’s help looks a shaky prospect. An injury to their only reliable goalscorer is unthinkable. Amy Lawrence

• Redknapp shows defiance at prospect of departing from QPR• Match report: QPR 0-2 Manchester United• Marcus Christenson: why shouldn’t Phil Jones takes corners?

4) Villa needs goals. The Pope is Catholic

Aston Villa need to score more goals, obviously. Not only have they gone five consecutive matches without finding the net, their goals-scored tally amounts to a feeble 11 from 22 games, by far the worst in all four divisions. They do have Christian Benteke up front – who remains a potent threat – and Paul Lambert had a point when he claimed that only Simon Mignolet’s reflexes earned Liverpool a clean sheet. Yet Benteke cannot do everything on his own, especially if his supposed supporting cast of Gabriel Agbonlahor and Tom Cleverley are going to exert so little influence. Take away the two saves Mignolet made from Benteke and the Villa goal threat amounted to almost nothing, just a couple of half chances for Nathan Baker, a defender. The one sign of hope for frustrated Villa fans was a promising cameo from Carles Gil, who will undoubtedly get better as he finds his feet in England, but the lack of goals is not simply down to poor finishing. Villa at the moment do not seem to be attack-minded enough, they have got to find a way of putting opponents under more pressure. Against Liverpool, admittedly a team going well at the moment, once the first goal went in the contest was effectively over. Paul Wilson

• Match report: Aston Villa 0-2 Liverpool• Suso completes transfer to Milan from Liverpool• Balotelli tells Rodgers he is keen to stay at Liverpool• Squires on … Steven Gerrard’s Liverpool farewell

5) Winter breaks are great, but Newcastle’s is too short

Newcastle United flew to Dubai yesterday. The four-hour time difference meant they were due to land just after 1.30am on Monday morning Gulf time. The weather forecast for later in the day was heavy rain and cloud with highs predicted at a modest 20C. Happily Tuesday and Wednesday look brighter with sunshine and a possible high of 21C – which is a good thing because John Carver and his squad are booked on the 7.40am Emirates flight to Newcastle on Thursday morning. That’s 3.40am in the UK. Considering the journey back can take eight hours, it’s a lot of travelling and body-clock disruption. The puzzle is why, being out of the FA Cup and having a free weekend looming, they haven’t gone for longer? Stay seven nights and the vitamin D-related benefits would really start kicking in to the point where they out-weighed the jet-lag. Ditto the warm-weather training benefits. As it is, Carver’s squad are only training on Monday and Tuesday while they have Wednesday off, so how much good will an expensive trip do them?

It’s not just Newcastle. Stoke and Manchester City are also in the UAE on similar excursions this week so it seems the armies of sports scientists employed by Premier League clubs believe such exercises are worth it. But surely it would be much better if the league shut down for three weeks in January, everyone had a proper re-charge and fans could subsequently watch fit, rested teams playing vibrant football. It will be interesting to assess Newcastle’s performance when they return to action at Hull on Saturday week with Mike Ashley presumably hoping to see a return on his Dubai mini-break investment. Louise Taylor

• Match report: Newcastle 1-2 Southampton• Ginola’s election publicity stunt just adds to the Fifa stench

6) Defoe gives Sunderland grounds for optimism

Despite being the one player everyone wished to speak to, Jermain Defoe failed to front up in the mixed zone following Sunderland’s defeat at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday. If the striker was on board Sunderland’s team coach as it pulled out of White Hart Lane, he must have sneaked out of an alternative entrance, possibly smuggled on board in a kit hamper. Following his high-profile return to the Premier League after an unhappy spell in Toronto, his whereabouts during 75 minutes on the White Hart Lane sward were less of a mystery: alongside Steven Fletcher in a Sunderland 3-5-2 that deviated from Gus Poyet’s usual 4-1-4-1.

Despite failing to maintain his record of scoring on debut for every club he has played for, Defoe gave Sunderland’s vocal travelling support considerable grounds for optimism as their team once again flirts with relegation. Fit enough to start and showing no signs that he will need much time to return to full match fitness, he won the free-kick from which Sebastian Larsson scored with a splendid set-piece. In terms of pace, if nothing else, Defoe demonstrated that he still retains the requisite speed to get caught offside on a regular basis. He might also have won a first-half penalty when he went down under Jan Vertonghen’s outstretched leg, although the award of a spot-kick would have been harsh on Spurs. Harsh, but by no means the most ridiculous decision of the afternoon. “It was good, aye,” said Fletcher. “[The new formation] was better for me and for Jermain to have more space. We had quite a few chances and I had quite a few balls through from him. There’s a buzz about the training ground and obviously the fans are delighted to have a massive signing like Jermain. He’s a great player and a few of the boys will learn from him.” Whether or not a Sunderland midfield often lacking in creativity can provide the player with enough bullets to fire them clear of the drop zone remains to be seen. Barry Glendenning

• Match report: Tottenham 2-1 Sunderland• Giovinco set for switch from Juventus to MLS side Toronto FC

7) Hughes deserves more credit at Stoke

The media has done Mark Hughes few favours during his managerial career, perhaps because in terms of style, the Welshman’s teams – Blackburn Rovers, Manchester City, Fulham, QPR and now Stoke City – have always been slightly hard to categorise. Perhaps it’s because, while always courteous, in a quietly formidable sort of way, he gives little of substance away under questioning. But it may be time to recognise and indeed salute what Hughes is achieving at Stoke City. Not so much in terms of points – though the three picked up at Leicester on Saturday took City on to 29 in total, and into the top half of the table – but in slowly and carefully changing the style of football, retaining the defensive steeliness instilled by Tony Pulis, but at the same time giving the Potters a more creative element – and in so doing making them a more interesting team to watch. To those who snort derisively, and suggest that any change in approach is simply down to the skills of Bojan Krkic: it was Hughes that bought him, and for just £800,000. Richard Rae

• Match report: Leicester 0-1 Stoke City• Latest tables around the UK and Europe

8) Pardew shows the difference a top-flight manager makes

There is a certain illogical element to Crystal Palace’s season. Three of their five wins have come against Everton, Tottenham and Liverpool, all top-seven finishers last season. Their only two victories on the road have both been 3-2. What is making ever more sense is the appointment of Alan Pardew. Palace’s record over the last 18 months shows the difference between a proven top-flight manager and those who have tended to only prosper in at lower levels. Last season, Palace won one of their eight league games under Ian Holloway, a second-tier specialist. In the current campaign, they triumphed only three times in 16 attempts under Neil Warnock, another Championship expert. Over three spells as caretaker, Keith Millen tasted victory once in eight matches.

Their collective record, of five wins in 34 league games, is relegation form. But Tony Pulis, a veteran of five seasons of staying up with Stoke, took three points in 11 of his 26 matches in charge last year. Pardew, now in his seventh campaign at the highest level, has two victories in two since his arrival from Newcastle. Players such as Dwight Gayle and Jason Puncheon have been more potent under Pardew, just as Pulis brought more from the team last year. It is no coincidence. Richard Jolly

• Match report: Burnley 2-3 Crystal Palace

9) Allardyce has options beyond Reid

Given the whirr of transfer market machinations that have tracked him of late, there were eyebrows raised when Winston Reid was omitted by Sam Allardyce from the West Ham United starting line-up against Hull City on Sunday. Reid has not, and seemingly will not, sign a new contract to replace the one that expires in the summer and, as such, the clock is ticking on the central defender’s West Ham career. Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur are prominent among the interested clubs. But Allardyce sought to cut down any conspiracies. The reason for Reid’s exclusion was simple. According to Allardyce, James Collins and James Tomkins had been outstanding in last Tuesday’s FA Cup penalty shootout victory over Everton and he could not leave out either of them. Collins went off with a back spasm in the 49th minute against Hull and Reid came on to replace him while Tomkins felt his hamstring tighten late on and was replaced by Joey O’Brien. Reid is generally acknowledged as West Ham’s best defender but Allardyce could be comforted by his options. David Hytner

• Bruce names and shames Hull players after defeat• Match report: West Ham 3-0 Hull City

10) A sobering start to Swansea’s life without Bony

They have had quite a lot of good weeks in the last few years, but this has been a very bad one for Swansea City. Not that pocketing £28m from Manchester City’s bottomless well of cash for Wilfried Bony is all bad news given the healthy profit the club made on the Ivorian striker they paid £12m for 18 months earlier, certainly from the boardroom’s perspective. But for the fans at the Liberty Stadium on Saturday who watched their team crumple inside 50 seconds to Chelsea and trail 4-0 at half-time, the future does seem a little uncertain. To some of them Bony’s goals – 25 in all competitions last season and nine in 20 Premier League outings before his move to City last week – have effectively been the difference between the Swans being involved in the relegation battle and viewing it from the rarefied environment of mid-table safety. With 30 points already on the board there are no such fears this season, but life after Bony looks likely to be more difficult. On the plus side there is a ready-made replacement in Bafétimbi Gomis, while Nelson Oliveira has already arrived this month. However, after winning the League Cup in 2013 and enjoying a Europa League campaign last season, the kind of progress Swansea and Garry Monk were looking for this season – outsiders challenging for the European places – is currently being enjoyed by Southampton and West Ham instead. Selling your best player, however unavoidable a prospect that may have been, is certainly not going to assist that ambition. Paul Chronnell

• Bony a dedicated, heavyweight signing for Manchester City • Bony: ‘I’m naturally strong. I don’t do the gym’